Flake Soil

This is a in depth guide on proper steps you should take for your flake soil and well-being of your beetle.

Flake soil is a type of soil that bacteria is present in order to aid larvae in digesting what they take in. Depending on the beetle, they would prefer different levels of fermentation, such as first fermentation, second fermentation, third fermentation. In general, rhino beetles prefer more well fermented flake soil in comparison to stag beetles. This is due to their inferior digestive system in comparison to most stag beetles, the rhino beetle needs more help from the bacteria to break down their food properly. Stag beetles tend to have problems breaking down lignin in flake soil, so many species grow larger and faster when grown in kinshi.

When using flake soil, it is always a good idea to aerate it prior to using it. This is due to the possibility of refermentation, when refermentation occurs, the flake soil would be warm and hold stagnant smell. Using the flake soil at this stage can possibly kill your larvae, it is assumed the larvae dies due to the excess gas levels or the heat coming produced during the fermentation process. When aerating the flake soil, loosen it up and place the flake soil in a place with good airflow, once properly aerated the stagnant smell would be replaced by an earthy smell.

Moiturizing your flake soil is necessary for your beetles well-being. Flake soil should be wet enough for a shape to be maintained when squeezed tightly, but not too wet to the point water drips when squeezed tightly(NOTE: Add the water little by little! You can always add more water but removing water would be a pain!).

Common flake soil pests include fungus gnats, and nematodes. Fungus gnats can be easily prevented by ensuring the ventilation hole isn’t big enough for them to enter, in order to do this you can put newspaper underneath the container lid, or by put micropore tape over the ventilation holes. Fungus gnats are harmless at small numbers, however once the number increases, the the degrading of the flake soil would speed up, and can loosen up the soil. Loosening up the soil is dangerous for larvae in the prepupae, or pupae stage, due to the increase risk of the pupae chamber colliding.